Federer steams into QF at Indian Wells

ROGER Federer has booked his place in the Quarter Finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters after a dominant 7-5, 6-4 win over unseeded Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy.

Federer, 36, needed 82 minutes to improve his dominant 2018 record to 15-0.

The world No.1 is the defending champion and is looking to record a sixth title in the California desert; but will need to reach the semi-finals or risk being overtaken by Rafael Nadal in the rankings.

The Swiss superstar improves to 4-1 in the pair's career head-to-head.

Federer will now face No.23 seed Hyeon Chung in the quarters, who dispatched of Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 6-3 in the Round of 16.

The stars have tumbled in the early rounds at Indian Wells, with Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios all out of the running.